EDITORIAL: Time to end ethanol mandate

The notion of the government trying to pick winners and losers in the economy is one that has largely been rejected in the United States. Our historical record of economic growth and a healthy middle class was the result of allowing individuals to make their own decisions, with a loose set of regulations to try to minimize out-and-out fraud and abuse.

To discuss where exactly to draw the line on what constitutes abuse is to wade into a gray area, and is an arena of political debate that has contributed mightily to the shaping of our elections through the centuries.

However, it seems to us that the federal mandate that fuel companies include a minimum level of ethanol ---- a corn-based additive ---- in their gasoline is so over-the-top wrong on so many levels that it lies outside any fair political debate.

There is no gray area here: The ethanol mandate causes significant harm to consumers, harm that is not counterbalanced by its modest benefit in lowering greenhouse gas pollution.

The mandate is, of course, hugely popular among corn farmers, who have a guaranteed, built-in demand for their crop with none of the messy obligations that accrue to normal state-enforced monopolies. Unlike a public utility ---- which also has a state-guaranteed customer base ---- corn farmers do not need the permission of regulators to raise their prices, just someone willing to pay them.

The result is that gas prices are going up, food prices are going up, and the relatively small number of corn farmers with access to a steady water supply are making out quite well.

They would do better than normal this year even without the mandate because of the drought ---- but drought is a normal fluctuation of market forces. Luck has always been part of the economy, and even the heavy hand of government regulation can't completely eliminate its role.

We believe the ethanol mandate should be lifted immediately to provide relief to the American people ---- not just a few corn farmers and ethanol producers.